CEO: Transit tax rejection will prompt existential look at RTA itself

Death of the regional transit tax at the polls Tuesday could signal the end of the Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan itself, its top executive said Wednesday.

RTA CEO Michael Ford said the organization, birthed under a 2012 state law to create a regional transit system across Oakland, Wayne, Macomb, and Washtenaw counties, will spend the next couple of weeks analyzing why the 1.2 mill, 20-year tax failed by less than 20,000 votes out of 1.7 million cast.

Included in that discussion will be the very existence of the RTA itself, Ford said. He and his staff will meet with the RTA’s 10-member executive board to talk about its future and how its funding will continue if the decision is made to sustain the RTA.

“That’s something we’ll need to talk to our board about and see where we’ll go,” Ford said.

He insisted that improved public transit remains a dire need in the region, but now it remains to be seen if the RTA and its plan are the best path to achieve that.

“We’ll have to see what mechanism gets us there,” he said.

Under the RTA law, it can seek a levy only every two years, meaning it can’t put another tax on the ballot until November 2018.

It’s theoretically possible that legislative dispensation could be sought for a ballot request sooner than two years, but Ford said it’s too early to discuss that. “It’s something we’ll need to talk to our board about to see if it’s an option or not,” he said.

The RTA has funding through next year, but without a dedicated tax it would have to seek money from the state or federal government to continue to operate. The RTA has budgeted $1.4 million to run itself through its current fiscal year that will end Sept. 30, 2017. That would leave it with just under $1 million remaining. It could seek private foundation funding for specific initiatives such as education or project planning.

Ford declined to speculate on the $6 million yes-vote multimedia campaign staged in the region by the pro-RTA Citizens for Connecting our Communities. He did say the messaging would be examined as part of the campaign’s autopsy.

“I don’t want to second guess anything right now. Overall, we’ll have to revisit everything,” he said. “We want to make sure we’re understanding what worked and didn’t work and are we resonating our message more precisely.”

He also declined to say if Tuesday’s surprise victory by Republican Donald Trump for the White House contributed in any way to the RTA tax’s defeat. The levy saw its worst margin in pro-Trump Macomb County, where voters rejected it 222,806 (60.1 percent) to 148,159 (39.9 percent).

“I really don’t know. This is all new. It’s undetermined. I don’t want to place it on that situation. Maybe there could be some correlation,” Ford said. “I’ll have to re-look at those numbers.”

Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel over the summer expressed opposition to the tax until his concerns were satisfied that internal RTA voting approval structures would be changed to give each county (and Detroit) a veto on funding apportionments.

The tax, estimated to generate $3 billion over 20 years while possibly leveraging another $1.7 billion in state and federal funding, needed a simple majority to pass. It failed very narrowly in Oakland County: 293,510 (50.09 percent) to 292,401 (49.91 percent). That's a difference of 1,109 votes.

Washtenaw County voters, especially in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, voted in favor of the tax with 91,594 (55.99 percent) yes and 71,994 (44.01 percent) no.

There were no opt-out provisions under the tax, which is a departure from the suburban bus tax that funds SMART in Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.

Despite the outcome, Ford had praise for the effort and reiterated the need for better transit to boost the region’s economic develop and to aid the poor, elderly, and disabled.

“I think everybody pulled together and did the best they can,” he said.

Other local transit insiders are lamenting the defeat and wondering about the future.

“We knew it would be hard to get people who don't have any personal connection to transit to tax themselves to support it,” said Megan Owens, executive of transit advocacy group Transportation Riders United. “Ultimately, I believe the pro-transit messages of bringing the region together and compassion for people who need transit ran directly counter to Trump's successful messages of anger and fear of ‘others.’

“I don't have a good answer to what's next. There is no Plan B. The RTA will try to continue to coordinate among transit providers, but they don't have any funding past 2017, even for their tiny staff. And given that SMART and AAATA have millage renewals in 2018, I can't see the RTA trying again for a new millage before 2020.”

Longtime transit advocate Marie Donigan, who campaigned on behalf of the RTA tax, said context is important to understand the tax’s defeat.

“It's hard to change 40 years of culture — political, geographical and demographic — in two years,” said Donigan, a former state representative from Royal Oak who is transit projects coordinator for the Detroit-based nonprofit Harriet Tubman Center.

“Perhaps we just needed more time to reach out to more people where they live, work, go to school, worship and play. Many people — young and old — who were looking forward to this level of service, the kind of service they can get in every other major metropolitan region, are devastated. It's a shame for the entire region that we fell short.”

She doesn’t see the push for regional transit ending after such a narrow loss.

“I don't know what the entire coalition will do but I can't imagine the hospitals, college students, elected officials and clergy I worked with quitting now,” she said.

“The limitations people face because of the disconnected transit system we have now are unacceptable. Since when is it acceptable for a transit system to stop three miles short of a hospital? Why is alright for people to have to get to work three hours early because that's better than being three hours late? Is it really OK for seniors citizens to be stuck in their homes and for people with disabilities to be stranded at the border between counties? I don't think so. Work will begin again.”